


Lucky Number 3

by Fogfire



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 11:29:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16386962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fogfire/pseuds/Fogfire
Summary: Prompt was: Am I DreamingReader has two best friends who are too mischievous for their own good. An away mission and some blue gunk make everything more complicated





	1. Chapter 1

It starts with one of Rachel’s ideas like it always does. 

To be fair, not all of Rachel’s ideas are terrible. It had been her idea that you’d try out for the helmsman program and four years later you’re the first choice to take over Sulu’s position when needed. And it had been her idea to apply for the Enterprise first and directly via their Captain and if not for her, the three of you wouldn’t be working together now.

But just like the Captain, Rachel tends to have just as many ideas as luck, but not enough luck for the three of you.

“That’s a stupid idea,” Chantal gives voice to your thoughts and grabs her fork to eat, almost taking her screwdriver instead, “We’re going to get killed. Or worse.”

Rachel snorts at that and rolls her eyes at her sister only to turn to you.

“Y/N,” she tries her sweetest voice, “You haven’t heard me out yet.”

“I don’t have to,” you tell her, “The moment I heard you put the words Kirk and I have an idea in one sentence I knew I had to disagree.”

She pouts, but only for a second, before she takes a completely different route.

“You owe me,” she insists, “Remember that one time on AlphaMeta when I covered for you so you could go to that Engineering thing with Chantal?”

You stare at her in disbelief, “I wouldn’t have gone if you wouldn’t have forced me, telling me I owed you for something I definitely did not owe you for.”

“Chantal,” Rachel nods towards her sister, “Tell her why she had to go to that Engineering thing.”

Chantal sends her sister a glare before turning to you. “Scotty,” she says simply, but it’s enough of an explanation.

You groan and let your head collide with the table.

Your friends groan as well, but for a different reason.

“And you didn’t even talk to him,” Rachel complains, “I could have done something more interesting than listening to that Chekov Kid explain our navigating system while you kept staring at our Chief Engineer.”

“He just makes me nervous,” you complain and Rachel reaches over and pats your hand.

“Which is exactly why you need to get off the ship for a day or so. It’s a win-win situation. If we go on that mission, we can do something together. Win. We annoy Kirk because he wanted to go himself. Win. I get to examine some cool plants. Win. You get a break from mooning over the love of your life. We all win.”

“I don’t win anything,” Chantal complains.

“You got me as a sister, you don’t need any more wins in life,” Rachel shuts her down and stabs her pointer finger into the back of your hand, “Now square up, red shirts are entering.”

You immediately sit up as straight as possible, too aware of Scotty’s presence than is probably healthy.

“I definitely need a break,” you agree and try to ignore the disturbingly wide smirk on Rachel’s face.

So yeah, it’s definitely Rachel’s fault that you’re on this mission.

She would disagree with that, though. Because if Captain Kirk wouldn’t have mentioned that he really wanted to go on that mission himself in front of Spock who then mentioned it in front of Rachel, she wouldn’t have had the desire to snatch that opportunity away from him.

To be fair, she didn’t do that often. Just when it came to the Captain himself.

-

“Why did I listen to you?” You ask as you lift your left leg and shake it, trying to get the icky blue stuff from a puddle off of your pants and shoe, “This place is horrible. We’re all gonna die.”

“We’re not gonna die,” Rachel claims from somewhere in front of you, hidden by a particular big plant, “Stop whining.”

“I’m not-”

“Yes, you are.”

“And what about Chantal?” You walk around the plant and send Rachel a glare. She’s crouching, digging up weird looking roots.

“Aren’t you worried about her?”

“If there’s a threat, she will just stay in the shuttle. And you know her, everything’s gonna be fixed when we get back.”

“We could have died,” you press on, “If I hadn’t-”

“But you did,” Rachel interrupts you again and presses a bag into your hands, “Hold that. When we get back, Kirk will have to admit that you have more talent than he gives you credit for and you might get to switch places with Sulu more often.”

“Maybe I don’t need to switch places?” She sends you a glare now and you shut your mouth, knowing full well that she’s right.

The sound of a twig breaking cuts through the silence and you jump into position, phaser drawn.

“Why don’t we have security on this mission?” You hiss and Rachel has the audacity to look sheepish.

“Kirk never takes security with him.”

“Yeah, but that’s Kirk. He’s his own security. How could you take that mission away from him and not think of taking Security with you?”

“I said we were gonna do it together,” Rachel complains and you resist the urge to roll your eyes.

Another twig breaks and you’re starting to think that whoever is trying to sneak up on you is awful at being quiet.

“Show yourself!” You call out, awfully aware of the fact that you’re a helmsman and that you’re severely lacking in shooting practice.

“It’s me!” Chantal breaks through the trees that surround you, “Don’t shoot.”

You heave a sigh and lower your phaser. “Why didn’t you just call?”

“No signal,” she explains, “But the shuttle is good to go as soon as you’re ready.”

Rachel nods in understanding and looks around as if she’s going through a mental checklist of things to present to Spock.

“No, I think we’re good.”

“Thank god. Let’s go.” You usher your friends forward and they laugh at you.

“See,” Rachel smiles, “There was no need to panic at all. You need to loosen up a bit.”

She pushes you gently, but you’re standing on slippery stones and you slide forward involuntarily. You start to flail but that just makes you lose your balance altogether. You land face first in one of the bigger puddles, splattering the icky blue stuff everywhere, swallowing a mouthful of it by accident too.

Chantal pulls you out right away. You gag and try to get the awful taste out of your mouth.

“Oh god, is it poisonous?” You ask in a panic, “It tastes just as bad as burnt hair smells!”

“Hold still,” Rachel scans you with her tricorder, “You don’t seem affected, but I’m not a doctor. You will have to let the CMO take a look at it.”

“The guy hates me,” you groan, “If this stuff doesn’t kill me, he will make sure I die anyway.”

Rachel rolls her eyes at that and pushes you forward. “Go, you big baby, we still need you to fly that shuttle.”

-

You make it back to the Enterprise in one piece. That’s not that much of a surprise. Rachel had sent you through a “special training” during Academy. You could fly that shuttle with a concussion, while drunk off your ass from Saurian Brandy. Not an experience you’d like to make again, though.

Having to face Dr. McCoy’s angry Eyebrows is not a surprise either, but a less pleasant one. You’d like to say that his anger isn’t completely focused on you, but it definitely feels like it. He checks Chantal through first, forcing you to stand at the side, teeth chattering, covered in blue gunk. You’re sure that he takes longer than he needs to, complimenting her - loudly - that her thoughtful, calm behavior was probably the reason the three of you made it back in one piece.

“Actually,” you try to correct him, but he shoots you a look that makes you shut up immediately.

Eventually, he has to sign Chantal’s release form, sending her off to work. She looks like she wants to linger, but her comm beeps and she leaves with a last apologizing look.

“I really don’t know where to start,” Dr. McCoy addresses Rachel, “But I’m pretty sure that you’re not gonna listen to me anyway. Maybe that green-blooded hobgoblin can talk some sense into you,” he grumbles and scans her with his tricorder before sending her away. She moves out of his way, turns around and sticks her tongue out at him. You can’t hold back a snort at that and Dr. McCoy looks at you like you’ve personally forced him onto the Enterprise.

One hour later you’re quarantined. You’ve been cleaned - in the harshest way possible, checked through, assaulted with antibiotic filled hypos and left to sulk in a small room in medbay. Far away from other people who could do something against the fact that you’re too bored to move your thoughts away from all the possibilities the blue gunk could hold.

You could already feel your skin tingle, maybe a rash?

Just as you’re starting to freak out, you hear a voice that is so familiar that it pulls you out of your mind in a heartbeat.

Scotty.

 

He walks by, explaining something to one of the male nurses. The poor guy looks positively confused as Scotty gestures wildly with his hands, stopping mid-word as he spots you through the thin quarantine barrier.

“Aye Lass, wha’ happened to ye?”

“Some blue gunk,” you answer dryly and he moves closer, waving the nurse off. The guy looks even more confused but shuffles away.

“Did ye take yer medicine already?” Scotty asks, his smile making you feel like you’ve just swallowed a pound of fizzy tablets.

“Well, McCoy gave me more hypos than I could count, so I think I did.”

“Ach, not tha’ stuff!” He waves dismissively, “That’s no’ gonnae work anyway. I mean the real stuff. Good thing I brought it with me.”

He drops the bag he usually carries with him on repairs and pulls a bottle of scotch and two cups out of it.

“You came here to bring me Scotch?” You ask, fighting the hopefulness that’s trying to rise up.

“Wha?!” He looks shocked, almost like you’ve just caught him with his hands in the cookie box, “No, I just… I had to do some repairs here anyway.”

“And you carry Scotch with you wherever you go?” You ask, unable to fight off that distinct feeling of “I knew he didn’t come for me”.

“Err, yeah, yeah, I do,” he exclaims, a light blush dusting his cheeks, “Donnae tell the Captain though. Or the Doc.”

“I won’t if it helps,” you try to tease but it sounds more threatening than teasing to you. If only you could flirt like a normal person.

He grins at you nonetheless, his eyes twinkling like they always do. It’s probably that soft but contagious smile that had caught your interest in the first place.

“It will help,” he assures you and pours the two of you a drink, pushing yours through the passage that had been designed to let the doctor safely give you your medicine.

The Scotch burns down your throat, the taste a welcome change to that of the blue gunk you’d probably never forget.

He demands your cup back immediately, pouring you another drink.

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” You joke and he sends you another twinkling smile.

“Maybe. Apparently, ye’re only shy when ye’re sober.”

“Who said that?” You ask, taken aback by it.

“Oh, uh, Chantal, I think,” Scotty stumbles over his own words, “She mus’ have let it slip- Are ye okay?”

You blink, trying to get rid of the fog in front of your eyes. It won’t work.

“I don’t know,” you push the words out of your mouth syllable by syllable, “I’m really tired.”

“Do ye need the Doc? Shall I ge’ him?”

You’re not sure what you want to answer when you open your mouth, but no answer comes out, just a breathy sigh as your head sinks forward, to heavy to hold it up.


	2. Chapter 2

You must have fallen asleep immediately, your mind jumping from hazy tiredness to overexaggerated dreaming. Everything looks so real around you, just like it has seconds ago, but you’re looking down on your body, curled into a ball on the other side of the thin quarantine barrier. Scotty is staring down at you, hands pressed against the barrier, whisper calling your name as if he’s afraid of waking you and afraid of you not waking up.

He gets up, looks around and moves towards the nurse station, his fingers moving in an anxious fashion, fiddling with the hem of his redshirt, nails digging into the skin on his hands. You follow him to the nurse station without even thinking about it, but when he walks through the doorway, you move along, unable to turn around until your weird dream allows you to pass through the white walls surrounding exam room three.

Chantal is kneeling on the floor, her head so deep in the mess that used to be a biobed that you only recognize her by the freckles on her left ankle.

“How’s the patient doing?” A deep voice asks from the corner of the room and you turn around, surprised to see Dr. McCoy sitting there, more relaxed than you’ve ever seen him while on a starship.

Chantal raises her head to look at him, pushing a strand of hair away from her eyes and smearing something black right across her forehead.

“Well, Emerald here is going to stay alive.”

“Emerald?” McCoy asks with more smile in his voice than you’d thought possible.

Chantal shrugs. “It was Y/N’s idea. She’s given names to every Bio Bed.”

“Do I want to know the other’s?”

“No,” Chantal smirks, “Because I’m not telling you.”

He laughs, a soft and easy laugh, before he gets up, crosses the distance and rubs his thumb across Chantal’s forehead.

“You’ve got dirt on your face again,” he says with a fond smile, “And you know full well that Emerald could have waited until tomorrow.”

“You’ve got the night shift,” Chantal says with a shrug, “I wanted to spend some time with you.”

“That’s too nice of you,” McCoy mumbles and there’s a softness in his voice that makes you want to leave.

For a dream this weird it feels too realistic and too private to stay with them. Are you really this starved for love that you’re starting to imagine your best friend in a relationship? You can’t even remember Chantal ever saying more than three words towards the CMO.

The room fogs up in front of your eyes. You find yourself in a turbolift with the Captain, too surprised about this change to remember you’re still dreaming, greeting him like you always do. He doesn’t move and you’re left to be ashamed in your own mind.

A soft sound pulls you out of your misery and the doors of the turbolift open in front of Mr. Spock and Rachel, the latter in a full blown rant about something scientific you don’t understand.

“Captain,” Mr. Spock greets and steps into the turbolift.

Rachel raises her chin as a form of greeting, not stopping in her talk and only the fact that she repeatedly uses the word blue makes you realize she’s talking about the latest away mission.

“My helmsman is still quarantined,” Kirk interrupts her and Rachel glares at him.

“My best friend is quarantined,” Rachel corrects him, “Until your best friend decides that he’s had enough proof of her not being contagious.”

“Proof-” Mr. Spock starts, but Kirk cuts him off immediately.

“Are you saying that you know more about medicine than my CMO?”

“I’m saying I know more about xenobiology than your CMO.”

“Xenobiology doesn’t trump medicine in this case.”

“Says who?”

“Everyone.”

“This is my stop,” Mr. Spock interrupts and you watch with fascination as they both move to the side to let the Commander step out of the turbolift. You’re probably the only one to realize that he’s stepping out on a completely empty level.

As soon as the doors close, the fight continues.

You try to leave, but your mind won’t let you, pulling you back into focus as Rachel opens your mouth to another retort.

“You’re pretty stupid if you think I’d let my best friend accidentally swallow something potentially dangerous.”

You snort at that, remembering the times you’ve ended up in the hospital because of Rachel daring you to swallow something potentially dangerous, like foreign food or foreign drinks or a mix of both.

“You’re pretty,” Kirk says back and you forget to breathe for a second until Rachel rolls her eyes at him.

“You’re petty.” She answers, turning his compliment into an insult. Classic Rachel.

He smirks. The doors open. Neither of them moves.

You might be a fool when it comes to love but you clearly feel the chemistry.

Rachel opens her mouth and the room fogs up again, pulling you back, up, in all directions at once, but mainly away from the two of them.

image  
Originally posted by sweartrek

When the fog clears up this time it does not clear up completely, just far enough to let you see a concerned Scotty staring down at you.

“I feel really dizzy,” you slur and his face disappear behind a bright light.

“No wonder, you’re high as a kite. What did ya put into that drink you gave her, Scotty?” A deep voice asks and you need a moment to realize that it’s Dr. McCoy talking.

“Just Scotch, I swear!”

“He drank from it too,” you try to help, but the words tumble out of your mouth in a way that makes you wonder if anyone is able to understand them. Probably not.

“How’s Emerald?” You ask, the words falling from your lips too fast for you to catch them.

You don’t get an answer, just the sensation of something pricking your neck. Another hypo. The world turns dark.

.

Colorful lights surround you. Soft music is playing. You sway a bit on your feet, a little offbeat as usual.

“Want to dance?” A voice asks and you blink, allowing your eyes to focus on Scotty’s face in front of you.

“I’m not good-”

“Ach,” he says, waving you off, “I donnae dance much either. Just a bit swayin’ around to the slow songs then?”

You nod, unable to speak as he offers you his hand. You take it and he pulls you forward, into his arms. It feels like a soft, tentative hug and you forget how insecure you usually feel around him, or how insecure you often feel on the dance floor - or any party at all. It’s one thing being the shy one in your group, but it’s different realizing that the one your heart is set on understands that. Understands you.

“I’m very very glad we had the chance to talk,” Scotty mumbles in your ear as he sways you around, “Slow as we are, it woulda taken us years.”

You blink in confusion. What is he talking about?

The darkness around him lights up a little, just enough to realize that the two bodies dancing behind Scotty are the Twins Tayla and Haylee, laughing as they are twirling each other around, too fast for the beat and not caring about that at all.

Tayla and Haylee only dance with each other on parties and there aren’t that many parties on board, which means you’re dreaming about the engineering party. A party that’s set in just a few days. And with a dream like that, you’re sure you don’t want to go anymore.

“Migh’ sound crazy, but I’m also glad ye got caugh’ in that replicator crossfire.”

You blink and focus on Scotty again who’s smiling softly at you. “Gettin’ sprayed with Tomato Soup sure wasnae tha’ great, but it got me another chance to visit ye in med bay.”

“When did that happen again?” You ask and his smile broadens.

“The day ye got out of the quarantine station, silly,” he reminds you with that fond tone in his voice you have heard recently from a completely different person.

Just as you think of him, you see McCoy, his tall figure towering over some girls you vaguely remember wearing blue shirts in the hallways. The lights brighten even more and you can see him clearly now, his arm on the small of your back, laughing at something you’ve said. It’s a simple gesture, yet meaningful and whoever looks at the two of you now can understand what’s going on.

“No unnecessary PDA needed,” you think and the voice in your head sounds suspiciously much like Chantal herself.

Now the only one left in your dream is Rachel, but as you turn to look for her, the lights brighten up more and more, until they’re blinding you.

You blink and try to raise your hands to shield your eyes, but someone holds them down.

You groan, unable to form words.

“If you can drink scotch, you can take looking into the light,” a deep voice announces. The light moves away from your eyes and as you blink again, you recognize that the dark shape hovering above you is Dr. McCoy himself.

“How’s Emerald,” you ask again before you can stop yourself.

He looks down at you with an unreadable expression.

“Are you really asking me that? Because two seconds ago I was thinking about releasing you from med bay but that question makes me wonder if you’re still as high as last night.”

“I’m fine!” You protest, even though your body feels sore and your mind is reeling from all the dreams you’ve had.

“Like hell you are,” he retorts. “Take a nap and we’ll see in the morning.”

He pats your left hand, betraying his harsh words and leave.

You try to stay awake, but sleep pulls you back into its arms, drowning you in more weird, yet realistic dreams.


	3. Chapter 3

As you lie there, right in the middle of sleep and waking, you remember a certain feeling from your childhood. It’s the feeling of being held, of confusion slipping away and comfort taking place. It’s the sound of a voice that’s warm and familiar and dear to you, a voice that whispers “sleep, love, let tomorrow be a new day”

But as you lie there, your feelings a mix of nostalgia and homesickness, something pulls on your left leg.

Your eyes snap open and the fact that you’re not looking down on the room or the people in it but up at the ceiling tells you that this is not part of a dream. Even though you’ve dreamed about this at least once tonight.

Another pull on your leg and you turn your head to see, surprised to find a woman your age staring back at you.

“Do you always sleep like that?” She asks and you blink in confusion. She pulls your leg again and as you let her move your leg you realize that you’ve pulled it up in your sleep, your knee digging into your chin.

“I’m not sure,” you say, still too confused to be able to say if your answer is the truth or not, “Who are you anyway?”

“I’m your nurse.” She offers you her hand, “The Name’s Nicole. I’m here to wake you up and get you out of here.”

“I’m no longer quarantined?”

“Not if you don’t want to be,” Nicole states and pulls you up, “If you get up now you can make it to the mess hall in time.”

“In time?”

Nicole looks at you, brows furrowed as if she can’t tell if you’re joking or not. “Breakfast? Dr. McCoy cleared you for duty.”

“Of course he did,” you state and shake your head to clear it. “I’m gonna be up in a second.”

“I’ll bring you your uniform,” Nicole offers and leaves the room.

You groan as soon as she’s out of earshot. You haven’t felt this hungover in a long time and the weird dreams are just the tip of the iceberg.

-

“Look who’s returned from the dead!” Rachel’s voice is far too loud for your hurting head but you still let her hug you. And because it’s Rachel she’s crushing you in a bear hug. Chantal hugs you next, clapping you on the back when she pulls away. “You still don’t look too good.”

“I feel extremely hungover,” you explain, “And I’m pretty sure it’s not just from the small cup of Scotch Scotty shared with me.”

“When? Where? Why haven’t you told me yet?” Rachel shoots questions at you quicker than your head of security fires her phaser. And Ksenia is damn fast.

“Yesterday in medbay and I haven’t had the time yet,” you groan and push yourself up, “And if you don’t mind, I need the strongest coffee the replicators give out before I black out. We will talk when I’m back.”

Rachel raises her left eyebrow at you, telling you without words that your tone has been a bit sharper than needed. You leave for the replicators anyway, knowing that you won’t be able to apologize without a decent amount of caffeine in your blood.

But as you walk past the tables you feel like you’ve seen your surroundings once before. And it’s not a “this mess hall looks the same every single day” feeling, no. It’s not until Martine walks by, laughing at her boyfriends joke as she passes, but turning around to wave at you, that you realize what this is about. You’ve dreamt about this. The same timing, the same movement. And maybe it’s not unusual that Martine waves at you, after all she’s got the desk next to you during bridge duty and you do call her a close friend, but everything together? And the fact that her boyfriend’s close by too when he’s one to skip breakfast if possible?

Weird. Just weird.

You try to shake the feeling creeping up your neck and walk on, focus set on the replicators. You’ve dreamt about them too and decide to order something totally different than you did in your dream.

But then you’re right in front of the replicator and Petra from engineering is waiting behind you, mumbling about a difficult project under her breath, just like you dreamed. Listening to her soft voice you type in your order without looking, not really surprised about the outcome… Just as you’ve dreamed.

At least you didn’t get sprayed with food, like the Scotty in your dream had predicted. Maybe because dreams of Scotty confessing his feelings for you weren’t all that unusual anyway.

.

“Guys, I need your help,” you say nonetheless when you make it back to your table, “I’ve had the weirdest dreams last night and somehow they’re coming true.”

“Is it like the one time where you dreamt that Kirk invited the whole Bridge Crew out for Pizza and it happened? Because we already talked about that-”

“No, not like that,” you wave Chantal off, “This time it’s really creepy. Like when Scotty walked by and gave me some Scotch to get better faster, and yes Rachel, that is everything I’m gonna say about that matter,” you glare at her for emphasis, “Everything got really… woozy… and then I was just a pair of eyes following people around and I saw Scotty walk towards the nurse’s room but instead of following him inside, which my mind would have done, you guys know me, I swished into exam room three where Chantal was repairing Emerald and then-” You stop abruptly when Rachel’s hand hits yours. Hard.

“Chantal?” Rachel asks her sister, “I’m getting a weird vibe from you. Don’t tell me you were up in medbay repairing that biobed with the creepy name when you told me you’d be in your quarters, going over some repair protocols.”

“It was an emergency repair?” Chantal tries to answer but it sounds more like a question.

“You were lying to me?” Rachel’s voice has a new tone to it, one you can only describe using a colour. And it’s a really dark shade of green that makes you want to leave immediately.

“Can we come back to this later?” You ask, putting more urgence in your words than necessary, hoping to get away from this topic, “Because shortly after that I was in the turbolift with Kirk and Mr. Spock and you stepped in, which ended in you and Kirk fighting.”

Rachel freezes. “You saw that?” She asks, those three words alone telling you that more things happened when you’d left them.

“Well, part of it,” you say, “Because McCoy woke me up pretty rudely. And when I went to sleep again, I was on the Engineering party, which I’m still refusing to go to, followed by more everyday stuff that totally keeps happening. Guys, that’s definitely not normal.”

“What’s not normal?” Haylee takes a seat next to Chantal, puts her coffee cup down on the table and takes an enormous bite from the apple in her left hand.

“Where’s your sister?” Rachel asks instead. Haylee, another Helmsman on the Enterprise is part of another twin pair. Like Rachel and Chantal, just completely different.

“Medbay, Kirk’s sending her on that Luna3 mission,” you answer before you can help yourself. Haylee stares at you in disbelief.

“How do you know? She just got held up on the way to mess hall.”

You shrug in her direction but send another pointed glare into the direction of your best friends. Chantal’s still looking like barely half of herself, but Rachel grabs your arm and your coffee cup and pulls you up. “You’re going straight to medbay, you-”

“I’ll take her there,” Chantal interrupts her sister and grabs your other arm, “I have to check up on Emerald anyway.”

The sisters exchange a look you’d rather not witness, while Haylee’s face shows pure confusion. “Who’s Emerald?”

.

“Alright,” Chantal pushes you through a door that’s definitely not medbay, “What did you see in Exam room Number 3? Besides me repairing Emerald.”

You look at your best friend, down the remainder of your coffee and take a deep breath.

“So you’re dating McCoy?”

Chantal’s shoulders slump down as if someone’s sucked the life out of her.

“Yes,” she mumbles, “I do.”

“For how long?”

“Three months? A bit more maybe?”

“And you didn’t tell any of us?”

She raises her hands in a gesture that tells you just how helpless she must feel.

“Rachel hates him.”

“She hates Kirk. Well, I thought she hated Kirk, but she hates Kirk and not McCoy.”

“McCoy is the Captain’s best friend,” Chantal reminds you, “Which is kinda the same thing in Rachel’s eyes. She’d dissect every little aspect of it until I’d realize that love is dumb and unnecessary. And I’m not like you. I’d just give up.”

You stare at her in disbelief. “You think I’m better off? I freeze when I think of Scotty.”

“Yeah, but you won’t let Rachel’s speech of ‘romance is a construct of society’ ruin your feelings for him.”

“I would have helped you.”

“Yeah,” Chantal takes a breath and leans her back against her door, “You probably would, but it was easier this way.”

“You will have to tell her,” you remind her, “But I’ll talk to her first. Remind her that she’s not the only one who’s got some secrets. Now go and talk to that boyfriend of yours.”

“I’ll take you to medbay first,” Chantal insists, but you wave her off.

“You know what? Maybe it’s good that for once I know what’s going to happen next. The next three days look like a mess right now, but as long as it doesn’t worsen, I’ll take what I get.”

“That’s risky.”

“Yeah? Well, I’ll blame Rachel for corrupting me.”


	4. Chapter 4

As it turns out, the blue gunk does not do the best job in fortune telling. Maybe it’s the fact that you didn’t sleep all that much last night and a few hours of sleep are just not enough time to see three full days ahead. Or it’s just your luck of getting a fortune telling drug in your system that tells you almost everything but leaves out information as important as someone downing a cup of coffee on your shirt.

To be exact, it’s Captain Kirk not watching where he’s going and smashing his coffee cup into your chest with enough force to make it drop to the ground with an awful lot of noise. Not that it matters anymore now that it has already happened anyway.

.

You stare down at the growing brown stain on your bright yellow shirt, unable to look up. Because if you look up, you might let something slip, like “Watch where you’re going!” or something worse. And that’s not really what you want to greet your boss with.

“Damn, I’m sorry. Do you wanna go and change?” The Captain picks up his coffee cup and looks up at you from where he’s crouched on the floor.

You sigh. “I probably should.”

“I’m surprised you’re already out of medbay, actually.”

“I’m surprised too.”

The Captain cocks his head to the side as he looks at you. “You sure you’re good? You sound weird.”

“I’m fine.”

“Well, take some rest anyway. As Captain I advise you to take off this shirt in your room, lie down for an hour and come back after lunch break.”

“I’m-”

“That’s an order.”

You groan. He grins.

“I’ll see you after lunch break.”

.

You immediately recognize the room you’re lying in as you wake up. Or are you dreaming? There’s only such a fine line between those two things now.

You’re in Exam Room Nr. 3 and you’re lying on Emerald, covered in a thin white sheet waiting for Nurse Anna to arrive with the dermal regenerator. The skin covering your ribcage is new, thin and itchy, telling you enough about the burns you must have suffered. Combined with the smell of food that seems to cover every inch of your body you come to the conclusion that you must have suffered a pretty bad replicator spraying incident. Those machines have a terrifying aim.

Probably the spraying incident Scotty would talk to you about later on. You blink, groan and grab your head. Thinking about future, past and present had been confusing enough before you had started to get visions.

But if that spraying incident really would happen, then… maybe the other dreams about Scotty…?

No. You shake off that growing spark of hope, trying to stay calm and collect.

The door opens before you can catch a coherent thought.

You look up, expecting a nurse, or even the doctor, but it’s Scotty, smiling almost sheepishly.

“Heard you’re in here again, Lass,” he greets you, “So I brought the infamous Scottish treatment.”

“Did you bring some chocolate to soften the blow?” You ask back, “Because I can still remember my last hangover.”

“You bet on it.” He says and steps into the room, holding up a bag for you to see.

He takes a chair from the wall and pulls it towards the BioBed and with him coming near you a feeling starts growing in you.

Hope, yes, but more impatience. Eagerness and restlessness.

You know something’s going to happen. And you probably should open your mouth to say something, but-

The shrill sound of the doorbell pulls you out of your dream so abruptly you’re not quite sure who you are or where when you open your eyes.

Whoever is on the other side of your door rings the bell again. You roll out of bed, crash to the floor and make your way towards the door only to look into the eyes of a blue shirt, female, looking vaguely familiar.

“McCoy wants to see you.”

It’s Anna. The nurse you’ve just dreamt about. And if you wouldn’t be that tired, you’d be mad at her for disturbing this dream.

.

As it turns out, it only takes half an hour for the great Dr. McCoy to get all the blue gunk out of your system. It takes considerably less time for you to realize that you will never be able to see another glimpse of the future again. But no matter how mad you get, the dear Doctor does not change his mind. And he’s not afraid of calling Chantal to calm you down.

And when they’re finished, they send you to the other side of the ship to talk to Rachel. As if you’re groggy, poor body wouldn’t deserve a break once in a blue moon. There’s still the threat of an aggressive Replicator hanging over your head.

.

“Chantal is what?”

Rachel looks at her sister who backs away as fast as she can. It’s instinct and necessary when dealing with the species of an angry Rachel.

“Calm down, now, it’s-”

“You calm down,” Rachel snaps, “She’s been lying to me, to us, for the last months and-”

“I was scared-”

“Maybe for a reason-”

“STOP IT!”

Your two best friends in the whole Universe stare at you like you’ve gone mad. You probably have.

“You,” you point your finger at Rachel, “Don’t like relationships because they don’t make sense to you. Doesn’t mean your sister can’t try her shy but awesome hand at that grumpy frumpy up in med bay. Doesn’t mean you can’t try to accept that you might like the Captain once in a blue moon. People can change if they want to and they do it every time.”

“Prove it!” Rachel looks at you with enough of a challenge in her eyes to power half of the ship with it.

“Don’t worry, I will!” You claim and shake her hand, “I’m already on my way.”

And you are, ready to deal with this madness, ready to speak your mind, in that weird, foggy, brave mood you’re currently in. It can’t get worse than it already is, right?

But fate or whatever power pulls the strings in your life doesn’t want it to go that way. The door of lab three opens and Tay stares at the three of you with big, innocent eyes.

“There you are, Y/N! The Captain is looking for you!”

You look at your comm and groan. “I totally forgot my afternoon shift!”

.

You don’t have a chance to go and see Scotty until dinner arrives. But he’s not in the mess hall either and you make your way to the replicators, hoping that warm food and a strong coffee will do something about your everlasting grogginess.

As you wait in line, you recognize the nurse in front of you. It’s Anna, the one that will tend to the burn wounds you don’t even have yet.

You groan, just thinking about it and she steps forward to select her food. The Replicator repeats your groaning noise. You freeze. A hissing sound erupts from the depths of the machine. Anna’s still standing in front of it, oblivious to the threat of that damned machines. You grab her shoulders and pull her back, right as the Replicator all but explodes.

Thankfully, being sprayed is something almost too fast for the human brain to catch up. The pain lasts longer than the experience itself though and as you’re being carried to med bay you can all but focus on the fact that at least this pain will lead to an encounter you’ve been waiting for all afternoon.

.

And just as you’ve dreamt it, Scotty enters the room, a bag in his hand from which he pulls a bottle of Scotch, two cups and some good, non replicated chocolate.

He lets you gorge on the chocolate as he pours the Scotch, handing you one cup.

“Donnae down it, lass,” he tells you and you take the tiniest sip.

Your stomach feels alive, the chocolate hard, boiling hot clumps inside of it. Whoever had thought that love felt like butterflies, surely didn’t know the real thing, because your tummy was filled with hornets.

If only you’d know how this would end. Awkward? Weird? But you’d dance with Scotty on the Engineering Party, it couldn’t be that bad?

But you also didn’t think getting sprayed would hurt this bad, so maybe you shouldn’t try to be the judge of experiences.

You take a breath right as Scotty does too. He looks like he wants to say something but swallows the words down again.

And you decide, then and there, that you have to say it. Not because you have something to prove - more to yourself than to Rachel - but because you’ve waited long enough.

“I’m in love with you,” you blurt out and Scotty chokes on his scotch.

You try to help him, but he waves his hands in the air as he tries to suck air back into his lungs.

“Say that again,” he whispers when the color of his face has turned normal again, “Say that again, please.”

“Only if you say it first,” you say, your voice stubborn enough to cover the panic bubbling in your stomach. The panic fades away as he smiles and lifts his head and looks at you.

“I’m in love with you too.”

.

The engineering party:

“I can’t believe you allowed the Captain to buy you a drink.”

“I can’t believe it either,” Rachel jokes right back at you, “Will you ever realize that it’s not buying if money doesn’t exist in Starfleet?”

“You can joke all you want but it’s a huge step for you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rachel waves you off, looking through the crowd as she searches for Chantal.

“And my sister is dancing with the Doctor.”

“Let her dance then,” you tell Rachel, “You still need to tell me what happened in the turbolift.”

“Nothing much.”

“Nothing much my ass.”

She gapes at you. “Y/N! You’re swearing!”

“I’m living with bad influence,” you tell her, “Now spill.”

“It wasn’t much. He just complimented me. Said some things that meant a lot to me.”

You look at your friend, that hint of shyness hidden in her eyes.

You smile. “If he hurts you, I’ll hurl him out of the ship and take his place.”

“Aye Sir!” Rachel salutes and you leave her as you see the Captain coming back from the bar.

.

Scotty catches you only a few steps before you reach the wall, pulling you in.

“Hi,” he says and greets you by pecking your lips. You smile and let him sway you around to the music.

“Tell me,” you say when a particular romantic song comes on, “Am I dreaming?”

“Not tha’ I know,” Scotty answers, “But if ye’re dreamin’, I’m dreamin’ too.”

He twirls you and for a second, nothing more, you see the crew, your friends, the man you love, all bathed in the colorful lights of an awfully old disco ball and it feels like a mix of dream and reality, like a place so far away it can be nothing else but home. And if it’s a dream, then it’s the best dream you’ve ever had.


End file.
